Making ripples

I get asked a lot of questions about what I do. It's a multi-faceted answer, but I'll try to nail it down for you: I'm a wife. I'm a mother. I'm a partner in my husband's ministry at Grace United Methodist Church in Neoga. And I'm an earth care advocate doing outreach support for Faith in Place, the Illinois affiliate of Interfaith Power and Light.

Each of these roles requires a certain percentage of my time and energy, and every week those percentages change it seems. But I'm 100% committed to all of them. And each role is intertwined with the next--it's as if one cannot exist with the other, which makes saying "no" sometimes difficult. But I'm learning.

As I've reflected on my word of the year for 2015--wonder--I've also been looking ahead to 2016. As I sat at the central Illinois fundraising event for Faith in Place two weeks ago, the word came to me: ripples. We watched the following video, which inspired me to wholeheartedly embrace how my actions create a ripple effect throughout my circles of influence: home, church, community, and beyond. This is such a freeing idea for me, that change doesn't rest on my shoulders alone, but it can start with me, and does extend out to those with which I interact.

Are you feeling led to make some ripples? Want to know where to start? Contact me at christina@faithinplace.org. I can help start a conversation with you and your organization or congregation on how we can all take better care of the earth and each other.